The Magnet
by fast track
Summary: Tommy and Kimi had also felt a pull, the sexual tension between them too strong to ignore. However, something continually keeps them apart. Will either of them ever get up enough nerve to make the move? Will they manage to put their group together again?
1. Chapter 1

Um, so… first story for Rugrats; please don't hate me if it sucks, I just wanted to play around with the chemistry between Tommy and Kimi.

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"Hurry the hell up, Kimi! We'd like to start the movie _before_ midnight this time!"

Kimi closed her eyes briefly in order to give herself a fighting chance at reigning in her considerable temper. "Well, EXCUSE me, chips do not put themselves in bowls!" she called back to the rest of the group, still sprawled out on the couches in the Pickles' living room.

Every Friday night, for even longer than she could remember, they would always put aside their own lives to spend a couple hours together, doing whatever struck their fancy that particular week. No one ever missed Friday night. Ever.

Except, fairly recently, Lil.

Distracted by her haunting thoughts, Kimi failed to notice Spike's water dish lying directly in her path and subsequently fell flat on her face. The large tin bowl that had been in her hands flew from her grasp and clattered to the floor, skittering until it made contact with the opposite wall.

Swearing rather creatively, Kimi staggered to her feet and glared vehemently at the offending dish.

"You have the most colorful vocabulary to ever strike fear into the hearts of suburban moms, Kimi," came a sardonic voice. She whirled around to see Tommy leaning casually against the door frame, laughter playing along the corners of his mouth. "But perhaps you need glasses there?"

"Fuck you," she grumbled as she began cleaning up the water spilt from the offending bowl.

"Don't have to ask me twice."

Kimi got to her feet, ignoring his suggestive comment entirely, save for an eye roll. Tommy pushed off from the wall and automatically began to help her gather snackage supplies on the waiting tray. With his assistance, nearly everything was assembled within minutes.

Except for the pretzels, which Kimi had intended to pour into the large tin bowl.

The large tin bowl that now had kitchen floor cooties.

Sighing in resignation, Kimi did an about-face to fetch a new, non-germified bit of dishware, only to falter upon a rather disheartening discovery- they were all too high for her to reach. Kimi stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the felonious top shelf.

"What, so chips don't put themselves in bowls, but bowls will lift themselves off shelves?" Tommy teased lightly. The amusement danced plainly upon his face at her second eye roll of the night but he nevertheless stepped forward to provide assistance.

However he made the mistake of looking down, locking in on Kimi's gaze in the process. It was then that he realized the position they were now in- her back pressed up the counter and him standing almost between her legs. His left arm was half-attended and frozen in reach, partially blocking her in. Tommy felt his heart rate pick up she continued to look back him. Slowly and deliberately, he brought his other hand down to grip the counter top on her opposite side, entrapping her entirely. His fingers were now only a whisper away from her waist, itching to move just a little bit closer to the tantalizing heat of her body.

Her breath caught in her throat at their proximity and that was all it took for Tommy's already-dark eyes to get impossibly darker. He leaned forward in response until there was barely a discernable distance between their bodies, almost like there was a magnet drawing him in. Maybe it was the smell of shampoo lingering in her dark and silky hair, or the way her full lower lip was caught sexily between even, white teeth. Whatever it was, he was powerless to resist.

Kimi's back arched against the cool tile of the counter, automatically causing her hips to shift and gently brush against his left leg all too briefly. She heard his inhale sharply and fought hard to control her own breathing, which was quickly becoming erratic. The heat generated from his arms holding her in place on either side was getting to be too much and she was effectively losing the ability of coherent thought.

Suddenly, they both swallowed hard, and perfectly in sync, which seemed to break the trance the two were in. Kimi immediately dropped her gaze and Tommy pushed himself off from the counter in almost the same instance.

"I got the tray," he told her, his voice slightly lower and huskier than normal as a result of their encounter.

"I'll been in just a sec," Kimi replied, motioning to the bowl that was still on the floor. Her own voice also had a slight rasp to it, causing her to clear her throat several times before she even thought of joining the rest of the boys in the living room.

Kimi shook her head. The sexual tension had always been there between Tommy and her. In fact, more incidences than she could count (just like the one from only moments ago) had transpired since they began high school. Yet one of them would always seem to back off before anything could happen, trapping the two in a dizzying tango that Kimi wasn't at all sure she knew the steps to.

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The second he rounded the corner, Tommy leaned heavily against the wall and raked his fingers through his dark hair in frustration. At six foot two, he had a considerable height advantage over slender and petite (though by no means lacking in curves) Kimi, which provided him with an inviting view down her white T-shirt's V neck.

And his hormones were reacting accordingly. Dammit.

Tommy paused for a couple more seconds before stalking into the living room and dumping the tray none too gently on the table next to the couch. He noticed Phil lying on his stomach, taking up the entirety of the couch. On impulse, he violently swung Phil's legs to the side, causing him to topple off the couch with a resounding thud.

"Whoa, T! If you really didn't want to watch a horror movie, you could've just _said_ something!" came Dil's voice, albeit slightly distorted as he was currently seated upside down in the armchair. It would forever remain a mystery as to how his Sherpa hat managed to continually defy the laws of gravity.

"That's it, next week Tommy's picking, no questions asked." Phil's voice was slightly muffled, either by the carpet or the skewing of his lucky hat by the fall; Tommy couldn't be bothered to look down to find out. He did however see Phil escape to join Chuckie on the love seat opposite Dil's perch. "Well, this isn't gay at all."

Chuckie looked at him incredulously. "Just jokes, man. But you're still sharing," Phil clarified.

"Alright, all here that's gonna be here- let's hit play!" Kimi stopped short as she entered the room, her eyes darting from Dil in his solitary chair to Phil and her brother crammed into the love seat to Tommy sitting all by his lonesome on the fair-sized couch.

"Tommy was playing 'King of the Couch'," Chuckie explained, noticing Kimi's questioning look.

"Alright, alright- I give!" Kimi laughed, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I can take the floor."

Tommy swore inwardly; he was looking forward to sharing the couch with Kimi and Kimi alone.

_Then again, _he thought, _this isn't so bad…_

Kimi had laid down perpendicular to the couch in order to face the television, giving him a prime view of her posterior as a result. _Please God, Moses, or whoever- don't let the guys want to talk about the movie afterwards… 'cause I ain't watching a second of it._

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Kimi stood tapping her foot, arms crossed as she stared at Chuckie and Phil's desperate and pleading expressions after the movie ended. She finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine, go ahead- I'll stay and help clean up.

The two were out the door in a blur of brilliant red hair and trailing plaid, with only a hurried and half-formed message of thanks shouted over their shoulders as an afterthought.

Kimi could only shake her head in bewilderment at their eagerness to sprint twenty blocks, only to stand in line for the next 18 or so hours. But- as they said- "it's not every day that a new video game that involves gambling and shooting people with high powered weaponry (in high def) comes out". Boys.

Obviously, the Y chromosome was not intended to be understood, just responsible for contributing half the genetic code.

"How is it that we got stuck both setting and cleaning up? Just us two?" she asked Tommy. Dil had already left for his laser tag tournament. Why the preliminaries were held at midnight was beyond her.

Tommy shrugged in response, already beginning to gather up the various glasses and plates that accumulated over the course of the evening. How the hell did five teenagers manage to make such sprawling mess in less than four hours?

Answer- 80% of them were boys.

Noticing Tommy had been AWOL for the past ten minutes, she wandered back into the living room to find none other than Thomas Pickles lying face-down on the couch, doing squat to help. Rolling her eyes, Kimi crept forward and gave him a good smack on the back of the head. "Come on stupid, I wanna get this done by an hour with at least some semblance of reasonability."

He immediately flipped over and caught her wrist before she could entirely retract it. "Come on live a little; leave for Dil to clean up in the morning. By the way, it's WAY too late to hear you talk in advanced vocabulary and Shakespearian sentence structure."

"Get real, Tommy. What would you parents say?" Kimi protested his suggestion passing off the responsibility to his little brother, her niggling conscience at work.

Tommy smiled slyly. "They're out of town for the next two weeks, as of this morning. Remember?"

"But still-"

Kimi's 'but' was never completely verbalized as Tommy yanked her arm, causing her to topple forward onto the couch with him. "Ohhhh- now you've done it, Pickles!"

Kimi used her position for leverage to gain dominance over the fight but Tommy, never being one to take things laying down (metaphorically speaking of course, but pun definitely intended), over-compensated as he fought back.

As a result, the pair tumbled off the side of the couch and unto the floor. After rolling over several times, Tommy's superior muscle mass allowed him to pin Kimi down entirely, holding her in place with his weight.

"Guess Chuckie was right- you are King of the Couch!" she said with a laugh. The rumbling created by said laughter sent a shock through Tommy's body as her breasts vibrated against his own chest, being that their torsos may as well have been plastered together.

Kimi noticed his eyes darken she felt his heart rate pick up. Her own pulse was racing at an equally high speed as she wet her suddenly-dry lips. She also observed how his eyes became fixated on her mouth at this movement- and stayed there for a beat. Her forearms were the only thing separating their bodies and she could feel the hardness of his chest beneath her fingertips. Sliding them slightly downward, she explored the sculpture in his abdomen.

Tommy's snapped shut and he groaned, willing his body to not respond as strongly to her touch has it wanted to. And, God did it want to- painfully. He swallowed hard and forced his eyes open, wanting to burn every image into his brain like a series of camera stills.

Kimi was thinking along similar lines- as much as they had teased each other over the past few years, she couldn't remember them ever getting quite this physical; mostly it was a yearning to touch while still maintaining a whisper of a distance between their bodies.

Now, there was scarcely a square inch of them not in contact.

The sound of a loud (and annoyingly interruptive cough) shattered their connection as they started apart.

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I'm planning on centering this story around Tommy and Kimi's chemistry, as I said before. I'm by no means "rushing" their relationship, unless you count the physical aspect but realistically, that's how t would be in real life. I mean, they're teenagers for crying out loud, they have hormones and they are more than likely to be tempted to act on them before they begin discussion of their feelings. As such, their development will consist more of them coming to terms with their emotions, not their physical attraction. Don't worry though, other characters are going to be getting some action too. Ha ha.

Anyways, please review. I would really like to know what I need to improve so CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would be nice. I have chapter two already done, so if even one person asks me to post it, I will.


	2. Chapter 2

Standing at the door, and appearing like she could not possibly feel more putout than she was at that moment, was Lil. Her distaste was pretty clear, given an obviously only half-assed attempt a civility.

After the shock wore off, Kimi hurried to slither out from under Tommy and sprung to her feet, heat rising steadily up the back of her neck.

"A word please?" she asked, blatantly bored as her gaze remained glued to the ceiling.

"Yeah, sure. Uhm, Tommy?"

"You guys go on, just give me a minute," he said, waving his arm from the floor; he needed at least that to gain control over his vivid imagination and its rapid effect on certain parts of his anatomy.

Kimi gestured to the hall and Lil immediately stalked out of the living room.

Once in the front foyer, Lil turned and crossed her arms over her chest, her distaste now quickly morphing into revulsion. "I was sent by my mother to fetch Phillip," she declared, her tone acid. No- worse than acid.

A rather disturbing realization, Kimi found.

"Well, as you can obviously see, he isn't here," Kimi said neutrally, long-since bored of Lil's petty drama. She had recently taken to the practice of answering Lil's statements that implied questions with disinterested existential responses.

Lil growled, nearing the end of her patience with Kimi's passive-aggressiveness. "Do you know where he is then?" she asked pointedly, knowing she could be here for days if she didn't give in to Kimi's prodding for a direct question.

"OH- well he went with Chuckie to the video game release thingy."

"Perfect," she said tightly before whipping around and marching out the front door, without so much as a word in farewell.

Kimi remained where she was staring, at the now-shut front door with a light frown marring her delicate features.

Tommy came up silently behind her and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder. "She's still not over it, is she?"

Kimi shook her head wordlessly, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.

"Do you think she ever will be?" he asked slowly, not wanting to push such a delicate subject for the group. Well- what was left of the group anyways.

"Honestly- I don't know. I'd like to think yes but…" Kimi trailed off and bit her lip.

Tommy pulled her into a friendly, one-armed hug, picking up on her haunting distress.

Lil- often the elephant in the room, ever since they first entered high school.

Tommy had found balance between the AV club and his new-found love of lacrosse. Chuckie had always been engrossed with one recreational science project or another so his commitment to the science club had not impacted the gang in a significant way. Dil, being the free-spirit that he was, found time to do anything and everything he felt the urge to partake in. Phil had finally taken up the habit of personal hygiene (Kimi swore he learned by example, as Lil bathed regular as clockwork) and took an avid interest in the culinary arts. However, being that he coasted through actual class, he still had ample free time.

The female side of rag-tag group was a whole other story. Lil was historically the more girly of the two, taking an active interest in fashion and style, continuously aware of her image and social stature as a result of her major goal- maturity. That, in combination with the discovery of at least some athletic ability through soccer, had prompted her to try out for the cheerleading squad. She had, of course, begged Kimi to try out with her, reminding her of the girls' promise to remain best friends forever and that being on a team together would give them plenty of quality time. (Lil had also included "keeping up with a hot body" in the list of benefits)

Kimi had accepted, being painfully aware that her gymnastics career was in tatters due to a string of injuries. She figured the cheer team would allow her to put a least a few skills cultivated by her previous life to use, even if she wouldn't feel a shadow of the person she used to be.

It surprised no one when Kimi had made the squad, given that she was documented as the most athletic member of the group; her love of rock-climbing and volleyball in addition to her participation in competitive gymnastics made that clear. The slightly shocking part was the tantalizing prospect of a university scholarship that the coach guaranteed Kimi she could achieve before the results were posted. If they placed at nationals, that is.

The real jaw-dropper, however, was Lil's exclusion from the list. Lil had been relatively amicable, at least up until she asked Kimi to resign seeing how they both were not selected. Kimi had hesitated, knowing the relief it would provide her family if they only had worry about paying one tuition- after all, the Java Lava could only do so much business. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she decided in the end to give cheerleading a try, even if it was an eternity away from her world of uniqueness and eccentricities as one could get.

Even then, Lil was still a loyal member of the Rugrats and civil to Kimi; the final straw came half-way through the football season. The squad would be required to wear their uniforms to school on game day and Lil became increasingly aware that Kimi has beginning to rise above her on the social ladder (even if Kimi herself failed to notice), garnering more and more attention from the male population. After all, boys would be boys- trailing wistfully after anything in a short enough skirt.

In the end, Lil had severed herself almost entirely from the group, missing Friday night get-togethers more and more frequently until she failed to come at all.

Despite the drama, Kimi still couldn't bring herself to truly hate Lil, because she knew Lil didn't hate her either. Phil had approached her privately one day in the hall and informed her that he caught Lil crying a couple of times whenever the DeVille family would stubble across a possession of Kimi's that had been left behind and forgotten. Which was fairly often.

Eventually, the distance just became too great and none of them quite knew how to bridge it.

Now, Lil had worked her way up to captain on the girls' soccer team and her influence showed- never in the history of high school were there elite athletes with such well-manicured fingers.

Kimi was brought out of her reverie when Tommy removed his arm from her shoulders.

"Come on," he said, grabbing his jacket, "I'll walk you home."

Kimi nodded in numb agreement and followed him out the front door, into the endless night.

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Well, that's chapter two. I am part way through chapter three, so please review so I know if anyone wants to continue reading it! Also, it would be kinda nice to get feedback with a little substance to it because while getting "this is good, update" is always pleasant, it's also beneficial to hear what's good and what's bad about a story.

So, just to get this straight, Lil is NOT going to be the antagonist of this story. She just isn't. She will however remain distanced from the group for the first few chapters, if I get enough response to motivate me to continue this story. Also, the cheer thing isn't going to play a major part in the story, other parts of Kimi's past probably will at some point though. PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry, sorry, sorry! And many times sorry over. This chapter did not go the way I originally intended and on top of exams, that pretty much accounts for the lateness of the update. Sorry!

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"Dammit, where the hell did my skirt go!"

Tommy ambled into the living room to find Kimi frantically searching every square inch of space so said article of clothing. Oh, how Tommy wished she meant that sentence in a different context- that involved him too losing an essential article of clothing. Several in fact. And her losing everything else…

"This is all _your_ fault! If you hadn't talked me into finishing that movie last night I wouldn't have fallen asleep on your godforsaken couch. Let me tell you Mr. Pickles, you're just lucky I had my uniform in my bag or else I'd staple your eyelids shut…"

Tommy bit back the comment 'for all the good that did, seeing as you promptly lost half of it', knowing it would likely cost him his testicles. That girl could be downright frightening when she wanted to be. Must be genetic, he mused. After all, he had heard the Kira-Christmas stories.

Tommy's eyebrows shot up as Kimi got down on her hands and knees to search under his "godforsaken couch", as she so succinctly put it, which placed her posterior invitingly into the air. Tommy was enjoying the view, visibly frowning when she righted herself.

Coming back to his senses, Tommy realized with a start that he hadn't yet responded to her comment. He haphazardly cast about for a reply that wouldn't seem creepy or obsessive after his prolonged silence. Beginning a game of verbal Russian roulette, Tommy settled on a topic sure to rile her up enough to push all other thoughts from her mind. "My apologizes, Miss Cheerleader."

_Well, I guess that proves me right… _Tommy thought (though with little to no satisfaction). Faster than he could blink, Kimi was on her feet and a flash of silver whizzed past him. Slowly, he rotated his head, all those animal documentaries he had seen over the years that drummed in the notion of 'no sudden movements to avoid startling the savage beast' came rushing back to him. Behind him, he saw a green dart embedded in the bulls eye mark, missing his left ear by less than an inch.

The only question that came to mind was, "Where the _hell_ did that come from?"

"Under the couch," she answered pleasantly. "I saw Phil hide it there last time we played so I'd stop scoring points."

"You still kicked his ass though, by like twelve games to three," Tommy stated, slightly bewildered.

"Damn straight," she said, smirking. "I never said it _worked_…"

"I like having ears though," Tommy began slowly, "so you're gonna have to pay for almost severing mine!"

"Tommy, no!" she half shrieked, half laughed as he lunged forward and threw her over his shoulder. Her laughter was infection and Tommy soon begin spinning around the room in a fit of reckless abandon.

"Oh for the love of pants, it is way too early to walk in on that in on that in my own living room!"

Tommy turned abruptly (almost taking a lamp out with Kimi's head) to notice Dil standing at the doorway with his hand slapped over his eyes. Suddenly, the two remembered that Kimi was wearing only a pair of extremely form-fitting and ludicrously short shorts- which would inexplicably draw a person's eyes upon their entering the room. Oops.

Tommy also felt a slight jar as he realized not all of the male members of their childhood group saw Kimi in the same hormonal fever that he did- but as more of a sister figure- Dil being a case in point.

"Sorry man."

Dil shook his head absent-mindedly and just before leaving the room he turned to advise Kimi to check the banister in the front foyer, still not removing his hand from his face however; he wasn't taking any chances.

Sure enough, there was the article of clothing in question, perched jauntily atop the curving adorning the staircase's banister. "The hell?" Kimi questioned incredulously as she and Tommy stared blankly at it. Deciding it wasn't worth the brain power at this early hour, Kimi snatched her skirt rather viciously and began shimmying into them, compulsively smoothing out any wrinkles.

Kimi pulled a face at the final result- which did not go unnoticed by Tommy. "Why do you do it then?" he asked, gesturing to the pleated emerald green skirt she had just been fingering, immediately repressing the urge to kick himself in the head as Kimi's posture bristled.

Kimi fought to rein in her temper, knowing her long-time friend had no intentions to rile her up. "We've had this conversation, Tommy," she began, clipping her words short, "so can we just drop it, please?"

Knowing better than to push the tense subject of Kimi's scholarship, Tommy hastily changed the subject to one he knew she couldn't resist. "So what, only two weeks until we begin meeting with all those post-secondary representatives?"

"About that I suppose… not that you have to worry, huh?" she teased, already knowing his answer.

Tommy raked a finger through his dark hair. "Thanks Kimi- as if it wasn't hard enough already deciding between going to NYU and Los Angeles, the place to be in the film industry."

"You'll do amazing wherever you are, I can guarantee you that," Kimi declared, giving him a shot to the shoulder.

On impulse, Tommy grabbed her hand before she could completely retract it and Kimi automatically twined her slender fingers through his. Startled, the pair simultaneously shifted their eyes downward to their clasped hands but before either of them could react, a neon orange backpack landed almost between their feet with a floor-shaking thunk and their hands reflexively dropped back to their sides.

Looking up, they found Dil leaning casually against the banister, as if he hadn't just missed- by inches- instigating a trip to the hospital on account of dual fractured skulls. "Sooo- when we leaving?"

And then Tommy smacked his head against the wall.

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Five minutes later, after Kimi had regained composure following her laughing attack in response to Tommy's reaction, Dil had returned to the top of the stairs after retrieving his trusty Sherpa hat. "Come on, Dil! I'm going to be late!"

"Yeah, come on Dil- we can't have one of the cheerleaders be late, the team might not be able to walk on to the field wit- ow!" Tommy complained, rubbing his aching shoulder where Kimi had punched him.

"Right on, T!" Dil said as he made his way down the stairs.

On his hands.

"You know Kimi, I really wish you wouldn't have taught him how to do that. I used to think the walking backwards was bad but this is ridiculous!"

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"I bet he glues it to his head."

"No, no, no- I swear he uses bobby pins."

Tommy had originally been following the daily tradition of theorizing methods Dil might employ to coax his Sherpa hat into disregarding gravity with amusement but he slowly found himself drifting away from the banter.

"Bobby pins?" Phil asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you know- those strange metal things that girls stick into their skulls to make those freaky, pointy hairstyles remain frighteningly vertical."

"Dude, how do you _know _this?"

Chuckie attempted to hold his poker face in place but the neurotic side of his brain overrode the considerably smaller sensible side and forced his eyes to dart to the right- conveniently to the accustomed location of the senior girls' soccer team at each and every football game.

"Ah, say no more, my friend. You were messing with Lil's stuff in the bathroom, weren't you? I do that all the time- classic."

"Yes- yes that's exactly it," Chuckie said, relieved.

"Speak of Satan's whore- check out that dirty look she's shooting the cheerleaders. Christ she could put my gym locker to shame… I hope no one documented that!"

Though Tommy rolled his eyes at Phil's choice of words, his interest was most certainly peaked. Sure enough, Lil wasn't (by any yard stick's measurements) emitting positive friendship vibes, though he suspected it was more to do with Kimi's presence than any actually ill will towards pompom-waving speed-addicts (not actually).

Just then, he caught Kimi's eye as the squad was in the midst of advocating for the crowd to "yell real loud" and "make the school super proud". She stuck her tongue out at him without losing the rhythm of the cheer- or even blinking for that matter. Tommy was so startled that he almost toppled backwards out of his seat in the bleachers, not expecting one of the cheerleaders to sass the crowd in a non-productive and non-uniform way, as they were all meticulously anal about generating the hype- and nothing but the hype- as a cohesive unit.

At least, until he remembered that Kimi wasn't technically a product of their school's typical "cheerleader" mold and acted as uninhibited and unladylike as she pleased on a daily basis. He then laughed and gave her an over exaggerated wink back. Kimi wrinkled her nose in response, picking up on his cheerleading sarcasm, just as he knew she would- they had always occupied the same wavelength after all.

Caught up in the elation of silently mocking her own sport with Kimi, Tommy failed to notice Lil's stare harden.

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Lil blew her bangs out of her face in a huff, the distortion caused by the currently-lime-green section only fueling her irritation with the situation. Having witnessed her three male childhood friends explicitly take note of her, Lil assumed that the exchange between Tommy and Kimi was intended to spite her.

Not wanting to be out-done, Lil decided it was time for her and her former best friend to have a lit sit-down and chat.

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Sooooo… oops? I know I said it about a billion times (okay five but close enough) prior to the start of the chapter but I'm still sorry. I am very, very, very unhappy with this chapter, it did not follow my original plot intent AT ALL and I am seriously considering deleting it and starting over unless I get some positive feedback (even if it's not positive, still feedback I like knowing what you think of my writing and what I need to fix!) so please, please, please review. Even though I am bad and updated slowly. But I swear like the first half of this chapter has been done for months.

As for the chapter content, I would like to reiterate the fact that Lil is NOT intended to be the antagonist of the story. I actually kinda sympathize with her because she isn't really used to being the outsider but her stubbornness has kinda landed her in that position- and let's face it, Lil wouldn't be the character we know and love if she didn't have that mild stubborn streak to her. I don't know why, but these random snippets of conversation between Phil and Chuckie keep coming to me, and even though usually aren't very long, I find myself intensely enjoying them.

Also, I'm sorry it's pretty short but I wanted to get this posted so I can get my plot back on track and keep what remains of my readers from waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

So I definitely wrote like this entire chapter on my phone, whaddup! This is because I had surgery and then went out of town and a bunch of other crap that you probably don't care about so if I didn't, this chapter would have been even later than it is now. Sorry!

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Lil relished the burning imprint left on the side of her foot by the soccer ball as she fired off yet another penalty kick in attempts to alleviate her frustrations. Her eyes flashed, recalling the image that had been burned into them a few short hours ago at the football game and she welcomed the quicksilver sting as the rubber cracker sharply against her cleat. _Stupid Kimi. And stupid Tommy for playing along._

Fine, fair enough she made cheerleader but did she really have to rub it in her face so blatantly by engaging in every expected behavior and nuance of a cheerleader? Immerse herself so completely in the lifestyle that it was painful to even be around? By involving all the people she grew up with in her ploys as well? Had her pride not taken enough of a hit already? Show her everything she was missing out on that she was free to indulge in every sing day?

Case in point- Tommy and Kimi's little wink fest in the middle of one of the most important games of the season- which Kimi should have been paying attention to given her position. Kimi knew- she _knew_- that she always had her soccer team sit in the bottom right corner of the bleachers, so why else would she have done such an un-Kimi-like, stereotypical-cheerleader-esque action if not to royally piss Lil off?

Lil's step faltered here, her anger momentarily slipping away, leaving her only with bewildering uncertainty. Sure, she'd made some mistakes and maybe she'd been a little hasty in a few of her actions as of late but did Kimi really hate her that much? And as quickly as her defenses had slid away, the walls slammed back up again and Lil was once more the strong titan, riding her anger sure-footed and forward.

Lil's brow creased into a frown as she powered off a final kick and she nodded in satisfaction as the sound of the swishing practice net met her ears. Yep, it was definitely time for a chat.

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Tommy sneezed in a ridiculously graceless manner for what felt like the billionth time that night, causing Kimi to burst into obnoxious laughter for what felt like the trillionth time that night. "Shut up, it's not funny!" he grumbled.

"Au contraire, mon ami, c'est vraiment," Kimi said, snorting but not bothering to sit up from the cooling grass to laugh properly. "Je ris quand tu es drôle comme ça."

Phil on the other hand did not possess this particular inhibition and was laughing so hard he was barely making a sound, complete with gleeful finger-pointing. "It really is man, it really is!" he managed to gasp out.

"I'm embarrassed enough Kimi, do you really have to outclass me by speaking your _third_ language as well?" he pleaded, ignoring Phil entirely.

"Je suis désolé. Mais tu es très stupide et je pense que tu es un petit peu fou. Cependant, je t'aime. Quelque fois. "

The laughter slowly quieted and the group lapsed into silence, continuing to simply stare at the stars instead of helping Chuckie map the current, non-circumpolar constellations for his science project like they initially intended to. They had somehow migrated into somewhat of a circle with their heads all at the center. Now they were just enjoying being together as lifelong friends, nothing special, just like they used to do when they were kids. It made Kimi feel almost entirely complete, if it weren't for the gaping hole (in their circle and her heart) left by Lil's absence.

The silence was shattered as Tommy's body was racked by yet another violent sneeze, sending his legs flailing into the air. The others dissolved into giggles again as Tommy attempted to fix his skewed position, while not having much luck at it.

"You know, MAYBE-" Tommy began loudly, "-this wouldn't keep happening if only you kept your damned hair tied up tighter Kimi! The wind keeps blowing it across my face! And it tickles."

Truth be told, he didn't necessarily mind the wind stirring the tips of her hair, it felt unbelievably soft and silky against the sensitive skin of his cheek, teasing his fluttering eyelashes. The smell itself was intoxicating, not that it really smelt like anything in particular, not like the fake flowery scents and artificially fruity aromas that most girls were accompanied by- it was just soap. Soap and shampoo. Clean and simple and driving Tommy crazy.

He kept wanting to roll closer to her and slide his fingers into the long, midnight strands, to slip out the elastics that captured her hair in her accustomed high pigtails. Whatever this influence was, it was drawing him in and he was very, very close to the edge.

On the bright side, he was saved nary a second later. Unfortunately, it wasn't by a bell, but another discomforting sneeze.

"Seriously- guys, was I this annoying with my allergies for all those years? I'm surprised you all didn't kill me!" Chuckie quipped, now joining in on the banter.

And so Tommy now had a new urge to repress- the urge to smack his best friend upside the head.

Eventually, Chuckie and Phil wandered inside to test drive the video game they had so coveted enough to stand in line for hours on end to purchase it the previous day. That left Tommy and Kimi still in the yard and the two gradually (and half-consciously) shifted until they lay in parallel and opposite directions with their heads aligned.

Kimi hadn't realized how close they had gotten until she turned her head to ask him a question and their noses nearly grazed. Kimi froze as the words promptly flew out of her head and it struck her that she was close enough to count the near-infinite colors in his eyes.

Tommy smirked, realizing the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge for his earlier sneezing fit as Kimi appeared to be entirely in LaLa Land. Reaching up slowly so as not to attract her attention- he promptly flicked her on her forehead, dead-center. Kimi jerked her head back at the sudden contact and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Then, without warning, Kimi sprang up and swung one long leg over him, effectively pinning Tommy before he had a chance to react. He grinned, intending to use his superior strength to turn the tables on the spunky entity that was Kimi- until he realized that Kimi had already outwitted him and had her left knee positioned to prevent any movement on his part- that is, unless he so desired to cause severe unpleasantness to important anatomical features located considerably south on him.

Realizing his defeat, Tommy reached up to brush a stray piece of Kimi's bangs from her eyes, hoping to verify that no malicious intent remained within them. Kimi's face was lit by a smile as she realized she had finally managed an undisputed victory after several recent attempts.

Lowering her defenses, Kimi allowed her left leg to relax and fall to his side, resting by his hip. She propped herself up by bracing her hands on his chest. It then struck her what a compromising position they were in and the consequences should someone happen to walk back outside again. However, Kimi didn't feel entirely willing to move for reasons she couldn't explain even to herself so she occupied herself by drumming her fingers on his chest instead.

Kimi knew she enjoyed the heat generated where their two bodies were connected, his narrow hips and her toned thighs, and she allowed it to swirl up through her body without making any attempts to it down this time. In fact, the only thing keeping her from pressing down even closer to him was self-doubt.

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't out of concern of jeopardizing their friendship that she never actually took their casual flirtations one step further. After all, they had known each other long enough and each witnessed enough of the other's embarrassing life milestones that Kimi felt fairly confident that they could bridge the gap any amount of awkwardness could generate. Including the averted eyes that could so often accompanied a hook-up between two life-long friends.

No, Kimi was apprehensive of him changing his mind. Opening herself up to someone like Tommy- who dredged up such powerful feelings, all the way from her soul to her bones- letting herself fall fast and free into the immersion of another… Kimi knew without a shadow of a doubt, that is what would happen to her if she were to become truly involved with Tommy. And it terrified her. So Kimi we could continue to straddle his waist, half-shy and half-playful, drumming her fingers on his chest and forcefully shoving aside the potential for anything else she loved to be ripped from her grasp.

Tommy, no longer satisfied with playing a passive role, reached up his right hand to grasp her wrist, stopping her rhythmical motions in the process. He allowed himself several seconds to caress the silken skin of the inside of her wrist, watching his own thumb move back and forth patiently, before slipping his hand into hers, twining their fingers together. Then, he repeated the process with his left hand before finally allowing himself to raise his eyes to hers.

What he found was a gut-wrenchingly beautiful sight. Kimi's eyes were alive and alight, partially with want but with a hint of mischievousness remaining and Tommy found the combination irresistibly sexy. Her full lips were parted slightly in a silent gasp and Tommy had to will away all the thoughts that unconsciously attached themselves to the image. God, was she gorgeous. And right at this moment was when all rational thought left the building and all that remained was raw need and insatiable want.

Tommy compulsively tightened his fingers around hers, with no resistance from Kimi, and he slowly began to draw her forward. This was it, wasn't it? The moment when everything changed, the moment they crossed the line not drawn but nevertheless grew increasingly blurry- this was it, consequences be damned.

"Well isn't cozy, hmmm?" Lil's voice cut through the previously impenetrable darkness, causing the two to come crashing back to earth. Tommy jerked his hands back reflexively in the same instant that Kimi tipped sideways, rolling cat-like away from the heat of his strong body to end up half-kneeling. Tommy pushed himself into a half-sitting position by propping his upper body up on his elbows, completely oblivious to the grass stuck helter-skelter in his dark hair.

"Hi Lil," Tommy began uncertainly. Not only was her appearance unsettlingly uncharacteristic, her tone possessed an edge Tommy wasn't quite sure what to make of- not quite cold and mocking but also not entirely reassuring.

"Hello Thomas. I was wondering… You two seem awfully, well- _busy_-" here, Lil produced a rather pointed and knowing smirk, "-but I was hoping I might steal Kimi for a while."

Tommy and Kimi exchanged a wary glance, silently conveying a shared confusion. Lil… Nevertheless, Kimi rose to her feet and dutifully followed Lil next door with her head held high.

XXXXXXX

Wowwwww…. Ouch. Sorry again for the delay. Also possibly about the crappy quality but I felt this chapter was as good as it was ever going to get so I may as well get it over with and post it. I really did try to make it slightly longer (as was suggested) but after this seemed like the least awkward place to transition.

I know there have been some questions and confusions addressed in reviews and I hope that as the plot progresses, some of those blanks are beginning to be filled. Lil's perspective, for example. I also touched on Kimi's reason for not making a move for the first time, with more to come later. My goal in this chapter was to paint more vivid imagery of their interactions, as well as to create kind of a static charge between them so PLEASE let me know how it went. Even though I was bad by being slow.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, as promised and thank you kindly for indulging me! I've discovered I tend to get distracted whenever I write and I have decided to keep a list of what goes down on each day to try and figure out why I take so long to update sometimes. You can find the list at the bottom of the page.

XXXXXXX

Tommy continued to watch the silhouettes of Kimi and Lil until their outlines blurred entirely into the tantalizing darkness of the night. He allowed himself to collapse backwards into the grass, taking in the heat that had been left behind by their struggle, not to mention the scent of her- hair, clothes, skin, everything of Kimi essence.

Or heaven possibly.

Kimi always managed to get to him, to drive him crazy, no matter what she was doing. The playful smirk, the mischief in her eyes, the fact that her adventurous streak always made her willing to push it just a bit further- except for this. Never this. And Tommy felt just about ready to throw himself from the top of Whiplash Gorge.

Didn't she realize the intensity of the effect she had on him, how hard it was to control his body whenever she would whisper in his ear or lick her lips or brush up against him? Damn, she stuck desire to him like superglue every time she walked through the room, only to begin pulling him after her once she left said room, not even noticing she had created a magnetic force field. It was like his system was hardwired to her fingertips and she was playing him like a puppeteer with every move she made.

And if Kimi toyed with his body, then she absolutely wrecked his mind. You see, the brain _below_ his belt was screaming "Jump her, do it, do it now!" while the big brain upstairs was constantly whispering "She's your friend, not even in your league, stay awayyyyyyy." Well, it used to at least. Now Tommy wasn't entirely sure what to make of the mixed signals.

The attraction to Kimi had started out as simply that- an attraction. She was beautiful and bold and more ballsy than practically any guy he had ever met (and that was saying something considering the messes they used to get in to), a decidedly sexy combination. And as she had grown older and into the woman she was today from the quirky girl of his childhood, his desire had skyrocketed exponentially. With each heart-stopping smile or heart-warming laugh, Tommy felt himself sliding closer and closer to the edge of restraint.

At first, it had been merely an ache as a male, a consequence of his abundance of hormones, but now, Tommy had the sneaking suspicion that it had slowly and surreptitiously become an ache in his heart. He wanted her, there was no question about that.

He wanted her both in his bed and under his arm.

Permanently.

Not that he felt that this was a decision resting entirely in her hands, but he was freaking terrified to make a move. All the reasons why she would retreat further away than ever always came flashing through his brain like the ticker tape from hell; she was his best friend's baby sister; she resisted commitment fiercely after watching her family be torn apart and stitched back together; she was under mammoth loads of pressure academically- and extracurricularly-speaking; she was still putting her life, her heart, and her dream back together. Tommy shuddered.

He hated thinking about that most of all. Tommy groaned and slung and arm over his eyes, striving in vain to block out the frustrations of life. When did girls start dictating their happiness?

_Well,_ Tommy thought, _I was about one and a half._

XXXXXXX

Kimi followed Lil into the De Ville kitchen in silence, vaguely disturbed by the abundance of dancing shadows. Since when did a De Ville turn off a light, _ever_? Nevertheless, Lil automatically filled and handed her a glass of room temperature grape juice, just as had been their ritual since they had become entrusted with the unsupervised use of glass cups. Kimi felt a vague sense of relief that Lil hadn't eschewed _all_ of the gang's traditions.

Lil fetched herself a glass of lemonade on ice before turning to face Kimi, who had taken the liberty of seating herself at the old wooden table and was currently fingering the rim of her glass half-consciously. Lil steeled her will; as much as neither of them was prepared for this conversation (even if Kimi didn't know what the topic was to be yet) it needed to be had.

"I saw you today," Lil blurted out, beginning the difficult part, that is, the beginnings of the conversation, abruptly, but pausing to clarify, "at the game this morning."

"Wonderful observation Lillian," Kimi replied sweetly. "Did I happen to be standing by the sidelines? I'm found there on occasion, not really a set time or anything, you understand." Now she was beginning to have an inkling as to where their "little chat" was headed and if that's the way Lil wanted it, well hell, Kimi was game. She was just going to make her work for it, is all.

Noticing Kimi's wide-eyed and innocent look, Lil grit her teeth; she certainly wasn't going to make this easy on her. No matter- the unpleasantness could be spread. "Ah yes, along with all the other airheads."

Kimi cocked her head to the side. Now where was she going with this?

"Do you feel like you belong, really fit right in there, unlike other portions of the student body?"

Ah, there we go.

Kimi gave a "can we not just be a bit mature, please" look. "Really, Lil, you're still stuck on that?" Kimi questioned, already knowing the answer, just as she had discussed with Tommy several nights previous. "It wasn't personal, you have to know that?"

"Personal? Kimi, you stealing all my friends wasn't _personal_ enough? Even my _twin_?" Lil's voice cracked almost imperceptivity, the only indication that there was raw emotion, directly beneath the surface of her mask of indifference.

"Lil," Kimi began softly, feeling her resolve waver slightly, "they're still all right here. _We're_ still right here." _Please, please, PLEASE believe that._

"Yeah, like I said, I saw you and Tommy at the game," Lil's voice was laced with venom, her bitterness having returned. With a vengeance. "Do you have to continually rub it in my face that once again, Kimi Finster is superior? The two of you, with the winking and the mocking and the being 'ooh look everyone, I'm a cheerleader and I have to be really obnoxious about it by making over-exaggerated facials', right in front of my eyes. That's low, Kimi."

"Lil, that wasn't a personal attack, so stop making it into one. We were just… goofing around."

"Please, I've seen what "goofing around" looks like for you two," Lil said with a smirk, having a distinct suspicion she may have just hit a tense spot.

Kimi fought viciously to prevent the heat from rising up in the back of her neck, knowing that it wasn't entirely from anger. _Oh jeez. _"Are you _ever_ going to move on?" she settled for instead.

"Am _I _ever gonna move on? Please, you're one to talk, Kimi. We all get that what happened to you sucked royally but it's been two years, two _years_ since it happened and you're still as closed off as ever! You trust superficially but you won't ever let anyone get _close_ to you, especially those whole are working their butts off to make a dent in your hard-ass heart," Lil said pointedly.

"That's not true!" Kimi attempted to protest, though somewhat weakly as the image of Tommy swam in the back of her mind.

Correctly interpreting Kimi's expression, Lil's eyes took on a knowing glint. "Like I said Kimi, I see you and Tommy together, I know what's going on. And you keep blindly shoving it aside because you're letting some crack-pot, shattered-soul heartache dictate your life!"

"Lil-" Now both of their voices were escalating.

"Just make a move, goddammit!" The harshness of Lil's voice in conjunction with the volume silenced the kitchen, the sound ringing off the chilled tiles and vibrating the windows. "Stop being so afraid."

Kimi looked at the floor, not daring to make eye contain.

"You're terrified," Lil said, now deathly quiet. "I see you, and you're terrified. If you won't admit it to me, then at least admit it to yourself."

Kimi opened her mouth to reply but when no sound emerged, she turned and bolted through the kitchen's sliding glass door, her ebony hair and charcoal grey shirt allowing her to immediately blend into the darkness of the night.

_Huh_, Lil thought with a small half smile, _that went better than I thought it would._

XXXXXXX

Thanks again for all of you who reviewed, I entirely satisfied. I hope, however, that you will also leave me a review for this chapter. Now we've gotten more of an insight in to Tommy's mind, as well as the first of a few confrontations between Kimi and Lil though I did try to keep animosity to a minimum. We are also seeing Kimi's past brought up more and more, as promised, with the blanks to be filled in later because I am evil. Anyone have any idea where that particular plot line is heading I wonder….

Oct. 30- look pencil crayons… I wanna color.

Oct. 31- who the heck goes trick or treating this early?

Nov. 3- uh oh family emergency eeks

Dec. 28- sooooo sleeeeepy

Dec. 29- oh crap, what was Kimi and Lil's conversation gonna be about again?

-when does the Secret Circle start back up again?

-does nail polish remover bleach denim? Let's go try

-damn, I hate physio, don't wanna goooooo

Dec. 30- hey Netflix has Iron Man 2!


	6. Author's Note

So I know this story hasn't been updated in a while, and I truly am sorry for that. It's not that I have writer's block, it's more… transition block. I have the two halves of the chapter written, but I just can't get them to meld the way I want. Tommy and Kimi's perspectives at this point in the story are very important, and it matters a lot to me as a writer that it comes out the way it should.

Don't worry, this story is NOT abandoned. I am still working on it, so please don't feel like this won't ever get finished. I suppose I could technically post the first half of the next chapter (though it would be quite short) if enough readers would really like something, even if it's just a few hundred words.

Thank-you everyone who has not given up hope on this story, because I certainly haven't! I shall see how the next few weeks go – maybe I can crank a chapter out even if it wasn't how I originally envisioned it!


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